This isn’t the first time the new star has shared his life with a television audience.

Barry “Bear” Myrden is about to set our screens alight looking for love on The Golden Bachelor, but he first came to national attention 14 years ago when his heartbreaking original love story was revealed in a two-part television series.

Looking very different with jet black hair and no moustache, Barry and his late wife Audrey, who was then fighting a terminal brain tumour, opened their lives up to A Current Affair.

Audrey’s last wish was to provide the comfort and security of a home to the three precious little boys she and Barry shared – and with the help of the TV show and hundreds of Sydney tradies, she was granted her wish.
Barry ‘Bear’ Myrden is Australia’s first Golden Bachelor (Credit: Channel Nine)
The mum who inspired the whole of Australia said the love exhibited by everyone who helped build their home gave her an “extra year of quality with my kids”, including spending what would be her last Christmas in their very own home.

“The peace of mind that it gives me knowing that the boys, that Barry, have a place of their own,” she said fighting back tears in the two-part series called Audrey’s Wish on A Current Affair.
Bear and his late wife Audrey opened up their lives to A Current Affair in 2009
Audrey, 44, died in August the following year, leaving behind a broken-hearted Barry and their three sons Declan, Jack and Charlie, who were aged just four, seven and eight respectively when they lost their beautiful mum.

Her courage and love for her sons touched hearts everywhere, but nowhere more so than on Sydney’s northern beaches, where she and Barry lived and raised their kids in a tight-knit community.

BEAR’S FIRST LOVE

Audrey, who grew up in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, met and married Barry in Canada before moving to Manly in 1998 where they happily settled, while saving up for a deposit on a home.

Their dream had to be put on hold when Audrey, who had beaten breast cancer in her 20s, was diagnosed with a rare and fatal type of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiform in 2009. The couple spent $90,000 on treatment, hoping for a miracle.

“How am I going to tell my children they’re not going to have a mum?” she heartbreakingly told ACA. “I can’t imagine what their life will be without me and what my life would be like without them.
Audrey tragically died in August the following year, leaving behind a broken-hearted Barry and their three sons Declan, Jack and Charlie, who were aged just four, seven and eight respectively.
“I so don’t want to die. I don’t. It’s just so unfair. I thought what a cruel irony to give a mother a beautiful family and then to take her away from them, especially my young babies.”

It was her grace and strength in facing a terrible diagnosis that she may only have months to live that made Audrey even more determined to secure a home for her kids to grow up in with their dad.

And that’s when her community, ACA and local realtors Robert and Leonie Klaric stepped in, helping Audrey buy a dilapidated old home that looked more like a demolition job than a dream home.

Then in what ACA described as the biggest renovation rescue ever in Australia, hundreds of tradies and building suppliers donated time and supplies to completely rebuild the home in just 10 days.

“I’m glad I’m alive to see this happen,” Audrey said through tears.
The family were gifted a home by A Current Affair after their story struck a chord with their community.
The boys and Barry still live in the home Audrey campaigned to secure for them, along with a legacy of love, and if reports are correct, it was Declan, 17, Jack, 20, and Charlie, 21, who encouraged their dad to go on The Golden Bachelor. It’s the first time the series has ever aired in Australia following several successful series in the US, with Barry, 61, matched with 20 women.

BACK-UP BACHIE?

There are rumours that the first bachelor slated to fill the role dropped out at the last minute and was replaced by Barry, who has confirmed he was asked to join the show several times before he said yes.

“I think I rejected it one, maybe two times, you know, you only live once, and it’s never too late [to find love].”

He revealed that he did fall in love with one of the women. He also sparked rumours of a flirtation with host Samantha Armytage, admitting he would have liked to have given her a rose!